Chapter 211 Trading Funds
The TV series "The Ming Dynasty 1566" was highly praised by many netizens in later generations, but its reputation and quality are indeed very good and worthy of those praises.

However, when this TV series was broadcast on Shonan TV in 0.5, the ratings were less than %, which was considered a flop.

Especially for a big station like Shonan TV, the results are even worse.

But Liu Zhou thinks that this may be related to the broadcast platform of this TV series.

Although Shonan TV is the number one local satellite TV station after CCTV, it has a large audience base.

However, Shonan TV has always focused on youth idols, so the main audience group is still teenagers.

As for teenagers, how could they possibly like a historical intrigue drama that has a certain threshold to entry?
Liu Zhou felt that if "The Ming Dynasty 1566" was broadcast on CCTV, the ratings would be much better.

Such a good TV series should shine with its brilliance instead of being discovered after being covered in dust for several years.

Now that Liu Heping has submitted this script to Golden Harvest, Liu Zhou also wants to try to see if he can slightly change the fate of this TV series.

"Has Liu Heping secured investment for this drama?"

"Not yet, but it seems that we are currently in talks with Shonan TV."

"What does Shonan TV know about historical dramas? If they can't reach an agreement, they can just call Liu Heping and tell him that we at Golden Harvest have invested in this drama."

"Okay Mr. Liu."

Although Zhang Zhao didn't know why Liu Zhou was suddenly so interested in "The Ming Dynasty 1566", since Liu Zhou had spoken, he had no choice but to do as he was told.

Besides, he also thought that the TV series was good, and he couldn't put it down just by reading the script. However, he was the general manager of the company, so he had to consider market factors and couldn't just invest on a whim.

"And I think the scripts written by Liu Heping are very good. Let's see if we can establish a stable and long-term relationship with him and take down any scripts he has in the future."

In addition to TV series, Liu Zhou feels that the "Assembly" that was previously snatched away from Feng Kuazi can also be invested in and filmed now.

The original novel of this movie has been in Liu Zhou's hands for several years.

"I remember there is a novel called "The Lawsuit" in our copyright library, right?"

"Yes, I heard that it was you, Mr. Liu, who personally ordered the purchase of the film and television adaptation rights for this novel."

"That's right. I originally thought that this novel was particularly suitable for adaptation into a movie. Since there are no good scripts now, let's adapt this novel."

"Boss Liu, are you planning to direct this play yourself?"

"I don't have the time, and I'm not good at directing war scenes. Let's find a director from outside."

"Which director do you think is suitable?"

Liu Zhou pondered for a while and said:

"How is Director Feng Xiaoning?"

"This is a good choice. Feng Xiaoning is not only good at war dramas, but also has a unique way of portraying characters. His Red River Valley is still a classic."

"Red River Valley" was a very famous movie in the late 1990s and caused a huge response.

The reason why Shao Bing was able to win the leading role in the CCTV version of "Swordsman" right from the start was because he became famous through the movie "Red River Valley".

That's why he dares to act like a big shot in front of CCTV and Zhang Da Huzi.

It's just that maybe he was too arrogant and misjudged the situation, and was eventually replaced, allowing Li Yapeng to take advantage of the opportunity.

In fact, Liu Zhou took a fancy to Feng Xiaoning not only because he is good at war dramas, but also because he tried to combine commercial and mainstream themes very early on.

"Red River Valley" and "Yellow River Love" are his attempts in this regard, and both have achieved good results.

When Liu Zhou intercepted "Assembly", excluding Feng Kuzi, the first candidate for director in his mind was Feng Xiaoning.

"Since you think it's suitable, then arrange for someone to get the script ready first, and then go find Director Feng Xiaoning."

Feng Xiaoning and Zhang Yimou were classmates and also fifth-generation directors, so Liu Zhou didn't dare let him touch the script.

“Does the script need to involve the original author?”

"No need, you can go find that Liu Heng to adapt the script."

Liu Heng is the screenwriter of "Assembly" in history, so you can't go wrong by choosing him.

"Is that the writer Liu Heng?"

"Yes, let me take a look at the script once it comes out."

"Okay Mr. Liu."

"By the way, has Huang Bo signed with our company?"

"It's signed. Is there any difference between Mr. Liu and him?"

"No, I'm just asking. I think he and Ning Hao are a good match."

After communicating with Zhang Zhao, Liu Zhou stayed in Jiahe for another two days.

After staying at Jiahe for three days, seeing that the company was developing in an orderly manner, Liu Zhou also returned to Sina.

As soon as he arrived at the office, Zhong Lifang came over to find him.

"Mr. Liu, the Sina equity transaction and fund delivery have been completed. Here are the specific documents. You can take a look."

Hearing Zhong Lifang's words, Liu Zhou couldn't help but smile. This meant that he had truly become the controlling shareholder of Sina and there would be no changes.

"I'll look at the document later. Please give me a brief account."

Zhong Lifang pondered for a while, organized her words and said:

"Let's not talk about the 19.5% of Sina that we originally held. First of all, we have 1.1% of Shanda's shares. The agreement we signed with them was a times premium based on the current market value of Sina.

When the contract was signed, Sina's market value was US$15.8 billion, and to acquire those shares we needed to pay Shanda US$6.47 million.

Then it acquired 4.2% of Sina shares from Walden International.

We completed this transaction by exchanging NetEase stock for shares, so we did not need to pay cash.

But after the stock swap, we only have 8.4% of NetEase shares left.

Finally, we acquired 1.2% of the shares held by Sunshine Capital, at a premium of %, and spent million US dollars.

Seeing that Liu Zhou had been listening attentively, Zhong Lifang paused and continued:

“On our side, first of all, after cashing out all of our Amazon shares, we have a total of $420 million.

Then there is Mr. Ding from NetEase. Some time ago, I have been negotiating with Mr. Ding’s team on the transaction of the remaining 8.4% of NetEase shares in our hands.”

"Boss Ding didn't take advantage of the situation, did he?"

"No, Mr. Ding seems to be more anxious than us."

"It seems that he is even less secure than me." Liu Zhou said with a smile.

Ding Lei now holds more than 40% of NetEase's shares, but he is still so eager to acquire Liu Zhou's shares.

Adding these, his stake in NetEase has exceeded half.

He did the same in history, except that he gradually increased his holdings to more than half of the shares.

Now, perhaps stimulated by Liu Zhou's expulsion of Duan Yongji and his taking over of Sina, he has chosen to do it all in one go.

People in later generations said that Ding Lei had a strong desire for control, which he did have, but to put it another way, he actually felt insecure and was always worried that Sina would fall into the hands of others.

Liu Zhou also understands this. For company founders, control of the company is what they value most.

Later, Dong Ge also publicly stated that if he lost control of JD.com one day, he would sell all his shares and leave completely.

Liu Zhou dared to comment on Ding Lei casually, but Zhong Lifang did not dare to do so. Seeing Liu Zhou signaling her to continue, she continued:

“After negotiations, Mr. Ding bought our shares in Wangyi at an 80% premium.

Currently, the market value of NetEase is as high as 22.5 billion US dollars. If the premium is 3.4%, Mr. Ding will need to pay us million US dollars. "

"3.4 million, it seems that Ding Lei has invested a lot of money."

"In fact, Mr. Ding is not at a loss. It's only been three months this year, and the market value of NetEase has increased by nearly $100 million. This amount of money may be earned back by the end of this year."

The next few years will see a surge in the market value of Internet companies, so Ding Lei may not have to wait until the end of the year to make back his money.

NetEase's stock price has seen the most rapid increase among the three portal websites.

"Amazon 4.2 million, Wangyi 3.4 million, a total of 7.6 million, and then pay Shanda 6.47 million, Sunshine Capital million, then we only have million US dollars left?"

"No, there are still various taxes to pay for these transactions, and in the end we only have about fifty-five million dollars."

"Well, this is a lot of money."

Liu Zhou suddenly thought of something and continued:

"By the way, have we reached an agreement on the land by the Liangma River?"

"I have been busy with Sina's work recently, so I haven't received much attention from them, but the general framework has been agreed upon. Next, I will try to sign the contract before the end of the month."

"There's no rush. I want to see if we can talk to the relevant departments again to see if we can add a few more floors to our building."

The land you purchased had a limit on the floor area ratio, so you can't build as high as you want.

"Mr. Liu, are you planning to move Sina to the new building as well?"

"That's right. Although we are in Zhongguancun, this building is owned by Ideal Group after all. They have a close relationship with Duan Yongji, and I'm afraid they will do something bad."

"This shouldn't happen, right?"

"Who knows? Don't think that big people won't do mean things."

"Then I will talk to the relevant departments. If they know that we are planning to move Sina here, they will probably agree."

"Then keep the remaining money to buy land."

"Mr. Liu, are you still buying the Yan family's garden house in the Magic City?"

"Buy it! I personally have tens of millions of dollars, so it shouldn't cost more than 50 million US dollars to buy the land."

"Definitely not."

"Okay, once you've dealt with the land issue, go to the Magic City and help me buy this house in Yan's Garden. Otherwise, it will be too late and I'm afraid Chen Tianqiao will snatch it from me."

After Zhong Lifang left, Liu Zhou also picked up the document and read it carefully.

After reading it, Liu Zhou couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

After nearly half a year of hard work, Liu Zhou finally took control of Sina, the Internet giant.

Liu Zhou now holds 35.5% of Sina's shares, becoming the true controlling shareholder of Sina.

As long as they can win over some shareholders during this period and kick Duan Yongji out of Sina's board of directors at the next extraordinary shareholders' meeting, Sina will completely belong to Liu.

This day won't be too far away.

(End of this chapter)